CLINTON URGES MIDEAST PEACE TALKS WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS

Below is a portion of an article written by David Gollust that was published by the voanews.com on January 8, 2010 about the start of a new U.S. push on the Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking front that for the first-time includes a specific time-frame. To read the entire article, click on the title above.

Clinton's meetings with her Jordanian and Egyptian counterparts signaled the start of a new U.S. push on the Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking front that for the first-time includes a specific time-frame.

Envoy Mitchell, the former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and 1990's North Ireland peacemaker, leaves Washington Sunday for Europe and consultations on the Middle East including a Brussels meeting of the international Middle East Quartet - the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States.

Mitchell's interview remarks earlier this week of a two-year time-frame for a peace accord coincide with news reports that the United States hopes to secure an agreement before the end of this year on the borders of an envisaged Palestinian state - which if achieved would effectively end the long-running conflict over what constitutes Israeli settlement on Arab land.

Appearing alongside Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Clinton said peace talks, idle for more than a year, should be re-launched as soon as possible, while providing unusually specific language on what a peace accord should entail.

THE TEL AVIV CLUSTER

The New York Times published the following Op-Ed written by David Brooks on January 11, 2010 about how Tel Aviv has become one of the world’s foremost entrepreneurial hot spots. A portion of the Op-Ed can be found below. To read the entire Op-Ed, click on the title above.

Jews are a famously accomplished group. They make up 0.2 percent of the world population, but 54 percent of the world chess champions, 27 percent of the Nobel physics laureates and 31 percent of the medicine laureates.

Jews make up 2 percent of the U.S. population, but 21 percent of the Ivy League student bodies, 26 percent of the Kennedy Center honorees, 37 percent of the Academy Award-winning directors, 38 percent of those on a recent Business Week list of leading philanthropists, 51 percent of the Pulitzer Prize winners for nonfiction.

In his book, “The Golden Age of Jewish Achievement,” Steven L. Pease lists some of the explanations people have given for this record of achievement. The Jewish faith encourages a belief in progress and personal accountability. It is learning-based, not rite-based.

GETTING THE SKELETAL DISEASES OUT OF YOUR FAMILY CLOSET

The following is a portion of an article written by Karin Kloosterman that was published on ISRAEL21c.org on January 12, 2010 about Scientists at IBM Israel and the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute in Bologna, Italy who are creating advanced tools to improve diagnosis and treatment plans for hereditary skeletal disorders. To read the entire article, click on the title above.

Many of us have availed ourselves of the Internet and information technologies (IT) to locate long-lost family members online and fill in the branches on our family trees. Bypassing the leaves and branches and going deep into the roots of the trees, a new Israeli-Italian collaboration is using IT to better understand rare, hereditary skeletal disorders.

The scientists are collaborating on a comprehensive system called BioMedical Imaging Management Solution (BioMIMS) that will collect, classify and analyze family histories of hereditary skeletal diseases. The Italians will work with the "wet" data, while the Israelis will keep their hands dry, dealing only with the images and readouts.

The new technology collates and integrates physical and physiological parameters in a computer program and could be applied to deepen our understanding of many hereditary diseases and conditions, Boaz Carmeli, manager of IT for the healthcare and life science group at IBM Research Haifa tells ISRAEL21c. His team was handpicked by IBM international for its members' experience and expertise in this particular field.

The idea is that if skeletal imaging, gene data and information about how our genes are expressed can be organized in one place, scientists will be able to create advanced tools to improve their diagnoses and treatment plans. This is especially relevant today, when scientists have more understanding of genetic diseases at the molecular level.

ISRAELI ROBOTS REMAKE BATTLEFIELD

The Wall Street Journal published the following article written by Charles Levinson on January 13, 2010 about how Israel is developing an army of robotic fighting machines that offers a window onto the potential future of warfare. A portion of the article is below, to read it in its entirety, click on the title above.

Israel is developing an army of robotic fighting machines that offers a window onto the potential future of warfare.

Sixty years of near-constant war, a low tolerance for enduring casualties in conflict, and its high-tech industry have long made Israel one of the world's leading innovators of military robotics.

"We're trying to get to unmanned vehicles everywhere on the battlefield for each platoon in the field," says Lt. Col. Oren Berebbi, head of the Israel Defense Forces' technology branch. "We can do more and more missions without putting a soldier at risk."

In 10 to 15 years, one-third of Israel's military machines will be unmanned, predicts Giora Katz, vice president of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., one of Israel's leading weapons manufacturers.

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SOCIAL ACTION/PUBLIC POLICY

HEALTH REFORM, THE STATES AND MEDICAID

On January 9, 2010, The New York Times published the following Editorial about why Congress should look for ways to lessen the Medicaid burden on hard-pressed state budgets — and ensure that relief is fairly apportioned. A portion of the Editorial can be found below. To read it in its entirety, click on the title above.

The country needs health care reform, and Congress should move quickly to pass legislation. But as House and Senate leaders work to forge a consensus bill for final approval, they should look for ways to lessen the Medicaid burden on hard-pressed state budgets — and ensure that relief is fairly apportioned.

One of the important goals is to extend coverage to more low-income Americans. The bills quite sensibly require the states to expand Medicaid and offer them generous federal support to do so. Even then, the states — whose Medicaid budgets are already badly stretched — will have to put up substantial money of their own.

Ideally, Congress should find some way to get more money to state Medicaid programs. But if that proves politically impossible, as seems likely, the states will have to bear part of the additional burden in what is, after all, a shared national enterprise. Their poorer citizens will benefit greatly.

LATIN AMERICA'S WATER NEEDS COULD FOSTER COLLABORATION TO CURB GLOBAL WARMING

The Los Angeles Times published the following Op-Ed written by Luis Alberto Moreno on January 13, 2010 about the current water crisis in Latin America. To read the entire Op-Ed, click on the title above.

Ask the mayor of a city in the Andes Mountains about the outcome of December's climate negotiations in Copenhagen, and you will probably receive a perfunctory reply. Ask about the plummeting levels of local freshwater reservoirs, and you will get an earful.

The reason goes to the heart of the disagreements that split the industrialized and developing countries and prevented a long-term, binding agreement to curb global warming. But it also offers a path toward a more productive approach to north-south collaboration on climate change.

In Latin America, water is more tightly linked to human potential and economic competitiveness than in any other part of the world. The region has roughly 31% of the planet's freshwater resources, while being home to only 8% of its population. This huge water advantage has enabled Latin America to get 68% of its electricity from hydroelectric sources, compared with a global average of less than 16%.

KEEPING TOXINS OUT OF CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS REQUIRES GOVERNMENT ACTION

Below is a portion of an Editorial published in The Austin American-Statesman on January 12, 2010 about how China is using cadmium in toys, which is considered more harmful to children than lead. To read the entire Editorial, click on the title above.

Just a couple of years ago, the country went through a public scare over toxic toys coated with lead paint that were manufactured in China. Pet food made in China generated another wave of fear when pets fell ill after eating certain brands. Now there is a new worry from China regarding jewelry and trinkets that contain cadmium, a toxic metal known to cause cancer that is particularly harmful to children.

Buyers should beware.

This week, The Associated Press reported that some Chinese manufacturers, having been barred from using lead in children's jewelry, are substituting cadmium, which is considered more harmful to children than lead. It was not the government that brought us this scoop but The Associated Press. The stories on the topic, including one today, were published by the American-Statesman this week. Go to statesman.com to read all about it.

'IF YOU'VE GOT A TRADE, YOU'VE GOT IT MADE'

The following is a portion of an Op-Ed written by Mike Rustigan that was published in the Los Angeles Times on January 13, 2010 about why he thinks forcing all high school students onto a college-prep track is wrong. Mr. Rustigan is a professor emeritus of criminal justice at San Jose State University, teaches classes to police and probation officers throughout California. To read the entire Op-Ed, click on the title above.

One repeated theme in President Obama's education agenda is that he wants the United States to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. As he put it in an address to a joint session of Congress, "We expect all our children not only to graduate from high school but to graduate from college and get a good-paying job."

Although I applaud the president's strong commitment to higher education, he is seriously neglecting the importance of vocational training in school. Not every student needs to go to college. There are plenty of high school kids who find college-prep classes boring and irrelevant. Many drop out because they feel school is not preparing them for anything practical. Most of these kids are not lazy or defiant; they just want to work with their hands, learn a skill and pursue a solid, honorable, blue-collar trade after high school.

For too long, academic elites and politicians -- both Democrats and Republicans -- have oversold us on the necessity of getting a college degree. We have reached the point at which it has become almost un-American to admit that for a sizable number of our young people, college is a waste of time.

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THE IRAN REPORT

September 2007, the JCRC began a special section entitled “The Iran Report”.  Due to the looming serious nature of Iran and its politics within the global world, JCRCs across the country are providing community leaders with updated materials and articles concerning Iran, which will include political matters, divestment information, etc.  Both the United Jewish Communities (UJC) and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) have issued joint statements indicating that the subject of Iran should be on the top of the agenda for local Jewish communities. 

The JCRC will continue to bring the community updates on the situation with Iran and its implications throughout the Middle East and the world.

JCPA RESOLUTION ON IRAN’S NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM

Adopted by the Board of Directors of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) on March 27, 2007.

RUSSIA AND IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM

Below is a portion of an article written by Dr. Emanuele Ottolenghi that was published in the Journal of Energy Security on January 12, 2010 about how the international community should now recognize that every action undertaken by Iran in the nuclear domain suggests that the Islamic Republic has always sought – and never stopped – to produce nuclear weapons. Dr. Ottolenghi is the director of the Brussels-based Transatlantic Institute and the author of Under a Mushroom Cloud: Europe, Iran, and the Bomb. To read the entire article, click on the title above.

In an official statement released on October 23, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that France, Russia and the United States had endorsed an IAEA-sponsored agreement for the transfer of Iranian Low Enriched Uranium (LEU). Less than a month earlier, US President Barack Obama standing on a podium at Pittsburgh’s G-20 summit alongside French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime minister, Gordon Brown, had revealed to the world the existence of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, a secret nuclear enrichment site near Iran’s holy city of Qom. The announcement no doubt caused embarrassment in Tehran and put Iran’s regime on the defensive. Coupled with nine months of determined efforts by the new US Administration to directly engage Iran’s rulers, the atmospherics of such a high-level announcement seemed to pay off.

Negotiations set off immediately after. The five Permanent Members of the United Nations’ Security Council plus Germany (the so-called P5+1) and Iran’s nuclear negotiators, met in Geneva, on October 1, to restart negotiations over a year after their last, largely fruitless meeting in Geneva in July 2008. A deal soon emerged – Iran’s ability to produce medical isotopes was dwindling, as the supply of the kind of uranium needed – enriched at 19.75% and originally provided by Argentina in the early 1990’s – was running out. The international community wished to see Iran’s stockpile of LEU under stricter supervision. A potential trade-off was clearly available for the diplomats to grab. Details were soon worked out in Vienna on October 20-21 by diplomats from the countries involved. Under the transfer agreement, Iran would ship a significant share of its LEU stockpile to Russia for further enrichment. The uranium would then be processed into fuel rods (in France) and returned to Iran for use in its Tehran Research Reactor, under IAEA safeguards. Under the new format, it could not be diverted or reprocessed by Iran for purposes other than the ones specified in the agreement. And it would also enable France to extract nuclear fuel during the enrichment process.

SAUDI PUBLIC BACKS IRAN SANCTIONS BUT SPLIT ON MILITARY ACTION

The following is a portion of a policy analysis written by David Pollock on January 12, 2010 for the Washington Institute about how the Saudi public seems more concerned about terrorism and religious extremism than any direct threat from Iran. To read the entire policy analysis, click on the title above.

A highly unusual and credible private poll of Saudi citizens taken in late November 2009 by a reputable regional firm shows solid popular support for tough measures against Iran, even though domestic economic issues loom larger in the public's perception. Conducted in partnership with Pechter Middle East Polls, a new, Princeton-based research organization, the survey involved face-to-face interviews with a representative sample of 1,000 Saudi citizens in the major metropolitan areas of Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam/al-Khobar. A comparable poll was conducted in Egypt during the same period, with a representative national sample of 1,000.

Majority of Saudis Support New Sanctions

A solid majority (57 percent) of urban Saudis approved of "stronger sanctions against Iran" if it "does not accept new limits on its nuclear program," with 22 percent "strongly" in favor (compared to only 11 percent strongly opposed). Moreover, the level of popular support for sanctions was high across all key demographic categories: age, education, social class, gender, and region. For example, Jeddah showed 57 percent approval, Riyadh 59 percent, and Dammam/al-Khobar 54 percent.

IRAN BLAMES U.S., ISRAEL IN BOMBING DEATH OF PHYSICIST MASSOUD ALI-MOHAMMADI

Below is a portion of an article written by Thomas Erdbrink and William Branigin that was published in The Washington Post on January 13, 2010 about how Iran believes the U.S. and Israel conspired to plant the bomb that killed an Iranian scientist. To read the entire article, click on the title above.

Iran vowed revenge Tuesday after a remote-controlled bomb planted on a motorcycle killed an Iranian scientist outside his home in an attack that authorities variously blamed on the United States, Israel and "anti-revolutionary" agents.

Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, 50, a physics professor at Tehran University, represented Iran on an unusual regional project in which its archenemy, Israel, also participates. No motive for the killing was immediately established, however, and it was not known whether his role in the project had any connection with the attack.

Ali-Mohammadi was killed as he left his house in north Tehran. A booby-trapped motorcycle exploded, shattering windows in nearby buildings.

U.S. SHIFTS IRAN FOCUS TO SUPPORT OPPOSITION

The Wall Street Journal published the following article written by Jay Soloman on January 9, 2010 about how the Obama administration is increasingly questioning the long-term stability of Tehran's government and moving to find ways to support Iran's opposition "Green Movement." A portion of the article can be found below. To read it in its entirety, click on the title above.

The Obama administration is increasingly questioning the long-term stability of Tehran's government and moving to find ways to support Iran's opposition "Green Movement," said senior U.S. officials.

The White House is crafting new financial sanctions specifically designed to punish the Iranian entities and individuals most directly involved in the crackdown on Iran's dissident forces, said the U.S. officials, rather than just those involved in Iran's nuclear program.

U.S. Treasury Department strategists already have been focusing on Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has emerged as the economic and military power behind Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In recent weeks, senior Green Movement figures -- who have been speaking at major Washington think tanks -- have made up a list of IRGC-related companies they suggest targeting, which has been forwarded to the Obama administration by third parties.

Names on the list include Iran's largest telecommunications provider, Telecommunication Company of Iran, which is majority-owned by the IRGC, and the Iranian Aluminum Co. A U.S. official involved in Iran said the administration wouldn't comment on whether it was acting on the information.

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CRISIS IN DARFUR

February 2009 marked the sixth anniversary of the beginning of the violence in Darfur, Sudan.  For six years a government-backed militia known as Janjaweed (which in Arabic means, “evil men on horseback”) has continued to engage in a systematic program of expulsion, rape and murderous violence in Darfur, Sudan.  Millions of people now live in displacement camps lacking adequate food, water, shelter, healthcare, and sanitation. Attacks on \civilians continue.  As Jews, we have a particular moral responsibility to speak out and take action against genocide.  

The JCRC remains committed in its fight to end this battle and will continue to bring you facts and articles about this ongoing genocide. (For further information on Darfur, visit the JCRC web site “International” section at www.jcrcdallas.org.)

SUDAN IN CRISIS

Explore the history, people and politics behind one of the world's bloodiest conflicts in this interactive web site by The Washington Post.  Click the title above to be connected to this site.

CHADIAN REBELS ATTACK, RAPE DARFURIS - RESIDENTS

Below is an excerpt of a news release that was published in The New York Times on January 11, 2010 about more violence in western Sudan’s North Darfur region. To read the entire article, click on the title above.

Chadian rebels are raping, beating and looting villagers in western Sudan's North Darfur region, residents said on Monday.

Rights activists said the attacks might be war crimes and urged the Sudanese government and the United Nations to investigate them.

Chadian-Sudanese relations are key to the conflict in Darfur, and the two countries have accused each other of supporting rebels fighting for more power.

A rapprochement between the two neighbors last month included an agreement to form a joint border patrol force and to move rebel forces away from the long and porous frontier.

SUDAN'S ARMY, REBELS CLASH IN DARFUR

voanews.com published the following news release on January 13, 2010 about recent clashes between rebels and government forces in Sudan’s Darfur region. To read the entire article, click the title above.

Rebels in Sudan's Darfur region say they clashed with government forces Wednesday, days before a scheduled new round of peace talks.

The Sudan Liberation Army faction of Abdel Wahid Nur said its troops attacked the government-held Golo district in the Jebel Marra mountains.

A spokesman said there were casualties on both sides. He did not give specific figures.

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JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL
Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas
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